Portland Police find head of baby Jesus statue stolen from The Grotto

Portland
Police officers found the head of a baby Jesus statue in a dumpster
outside a Travel Lodge after it disappeared from The Grotto on Friday.

A
person staying at the motel, 3828 Northeast 82nd Ave., found the head,
and Rev. Jack Topper from the The Grotto confirmed the identification.

Police say someone crept into the grounds of The Grotto at 8719 NE Beech St. and damaged several statues Wednesday and Thursday evening. The statues
are more than 100 years old and are made from Carrara marble, a white to
blue-gray stone from Italy. Portland police officers recovered the head of a statue of the Virgin Mary after receiving a call on Friday from a passerby who said it was perched on a post on the West end of The Grotto property.

The
heads were also removed from statues of Joseph and the baby Jesus. The head
of the Joseph statue is still missing, and Crime Stoppers is offering
cash reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in
this case. Statues of two angels were also damaged.

Leave a tip online at Crime Stoppers, or text CRIMES (274637) and in the subject line type 823HELP, followed by the tip or call 503-823-HELP (4357).